Feminist Deconstruction of Ontological Security

The article performs a feminist deconstruction of the traditional concept of ontological security in international relations, revealing its key limitations – statecentrism and gender blindness. The article discusses how dominant theories systematically marginalize women’s experiences and ignore social reproduction and intersectional oppression. A threedimensional analytical framework is proposed as an alternative. First, embodimentality – integrating bodily experience; second, relationality – recognizing the role of emotional labor in safety; third, intersectionality – accounting for intersecting systems of oppression (race, gender, class). This paper critiques the reduction of security to militarystate aspects, and argues for the inclusion of everyday practices (social reproduction) at the core of the analysis. The paper calls for a transformation of security policy towards liberating women’s subjectivity and overcoming the public/private dichotomy.